One of the most iconically-American (and especially Southern) condiments is salt-brine-fermented hot pepper sauce. Usually made from tobascos (the pepper variety, not the brand), this kitchen staple and table condiment is a snap to make, especially if you have a glut of chiles on hand. Here in East Tennessee, chile season is still in full swing, and many varieties thrive here. Despite, or rather because of this easy abundance (chiles were our most dependable crop this summer and last, outperforming our tomatoes by leaps and bounds), many chile growers do not know how to keep on top of utilizing their crop before it disappears.

Pickling, drying, and smoking are all very good options for preserving your garden's chile harvest, but each has special (and often prohibitive) requirements: shelf space, a dehydrating apparatus, and a smoker, respectively. Salt-brine-fermenting needs none of these, requiring only a tiny bit of counter space for a fermenting crock or jar, some salt, a stir every now and then, and some patience. As for the chiles, tabascos are great, but there are so many varieties out there. As long as they are yellow, orange, or red, ripe, and appropriately spicy for your palate, use whatever you have or can get your hands on.

Luckily, in addition to our harvest of red jalapeños and yellow aji limos, we have had the good fortune to become acquainted with Jim Smith, a local chile farmer and producer of fermented hot sauces. Jim inspired us to try our hand at this simple and rewarding process after many chats under his tent at the Market Square Farmer's Market in downtown Konxville. At any time, Jim has up to 14 different varieties of chiles for sale, ranging from the mild and unusual to the punishingly hot (Ghost and Scorpion chiles are his best sellers). He also offers a completely unique hybrid cultivar, the Tennessee Cherry Chile (a much more complexly-flavored cousin to the Yucatania and Tabasco varieties). In addition to having all of these available fresh from his farm every week, Jim keeps even busier with his growing salt-brine-fermented hot sauce business. If that wasn't enough, he also dehydrates a portion of his harvest, turning it into highly aromatic chile powder (including one made out of Boldog Paprika peppers).

Jim was kind enough to let us tour his operation in Talbott and give us some insight into how he ferments his sauces. One of the immediately unique standouts to his procedure: after stemming the chiles, they get brined in a mixture of unrefined salt and Reisling wine. The wine, of course, increases the amount of sugar available for fermentation. As for the unrefined salt, Jim claims fermentation is much more vigorous and complete when he uses it (which, he thinks, is due to the high mineral content). As for fermentation time, Jim has a very personal relationship with each batch. He tends them daily (sometimes hourly in their most active stages). If peppers rise to the surface, they get mashed back down. If any yeast starts to develop, he adds salt. As the chiles soften and disintegrate, he adds more chiles and more salt, continuing the fermentation until he feels it is complete. This can take four to six weeks, but each batch is different.

Since Jim and his delicious sauces and chiles have inspired this blog (as well as many a fine meal), we want to return his kindness and generosity by calling upon you, our readers, to help support Jim as he continues to sustainably grow chiles and turn a profit while complying with Tennessee's requirements regarding domestic food production. Acording to state inspectors, Jim needs to have a certified kitchen and meet many of the same requirements much larger, corporate-owned food producers are held to. In order to continue selling his sauce, Jim will have to spend money he does not have to abide by these regulations. All of this despite the fact that his sauces, by their very nature (highly acidic, capsaicin-rich) are antimicrobial and safe, and Jim himself oversees the entire process, from planting the chiles to bottling the sauce. The overhead required to convert a home kitchen into an approved domestic kitchen is prohibitive for small producers like Jim.

The beauty of Jim's Kickstarter campaign is that, if we all contribute a small amount, he can meet his goal in no time. For those of you unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it's an site where entrepreneurs can raise money with the help of their community, and contributors to the project receive a gift in proportion to the amount they pledge to the project. Think of it as venture capital 2.0. The entrepreneur picks the goal he wants to reach, and if he doesn't meet that goal, he gets none of the money pledged. If, however, he does meet the goal, the money that has been pledged becomes available for use by the entrepreneur for their project.

If you are in the Knoxville area, we emplore you to visit Jim's Kickstarter page, read about his plans to expand his business, and contribute to the campaign (even a dollar makes a difference!) and visit him at Market Square on a coming Saturday. For those of you who do not hail from East Tennessee, we hope you can identify with the plight of Jim's business, his dedication to quality, and his tireless search for the perfect capsacin rush. Please take a moment to make a difference in the life of a small farmer, and therefore, in his community.

As our pepper fermentation expert says above, a lot of this is best done "by feel," and since the quantity of peppers a garden yields will vary widely (not to mention the width of fermentation vessels) we have decided to write this recipe using a simple weight ratio and a few instructive photos. As for the type of chiles to use, any kind will work as long as they are fairly hot and not green.

So, first you should cut off the stem and a little bit of the base of each chile and roughly chop them. We do this with gloves and a pair of kitchen shears, since it means minimal contact with the peppers and no surfaces to clean. Some of you might want to seed the chilies to get more flavor and less heat from them. Jim includes seeds in his method, we did not for our first go around. Either way is fine, just keep in mind seeding will expose you to more capsacin, which you should try as hard as you can not to get on your hands, eyes, or anywhere on your skin.

So snip off the stem-ends in the trash or compost, seed if you want, and then weigh the chilies in a bowl on a digital scale (I suppose you can just use the starting weight of the chiles if you do not choose to seed them). Remember this number and snip the chilies a slice at a time into your jar or crock. Now, take the weight of your chilies and weigh out 2% of that amount in salt, preferably sea salt (thanks Jim!). Add this to the jar/crock, along with enough white wine (prefereably a high-sugar Reisling or Gewürstraminer that is free of sulfites) to cover by a half inch or so. Mix and mash thoroughly with a pestle or wooden spoon (be sure to wash thoroughly).

Cover the crock or jar tightly with a cloth (I screwed on the ring of the mason jar I was using) and set out on the counter where you will see it. Now, when you're making coffee in the morning, check for white mold (this is where glass jars are clearly superior) and remove with a spoon, stir the chile mixture, and cover again with cloth. Do this every other day. You will eventually see bubbles forming either on the surface or in the pepper mash. This means it's working.

Jim and others ferment this mixture for as long as it takes for the fermentation to stop, up to 4 or 6 weeks. Our very successful batch of hot sauce took only 15 days to mature into a fruity, well-balanced sauce. I suppose you should play it be ear, but for those who are too impatient for the longer fermenting times, if you have noticed fermentation bubbles, you can and should take a risk somewhere around or after the two-week mark.

Now that the pepper mash is fermented to your liking, patience-level, or whim, all you need to do is run it through a food mill. Place the food mill over a bowl, pour the pepper mash and brine into the mill, and work the flesh and seeds, rotating the handle in both directions to push as much juice from the mash as possible (discard whatever is left). Measure the volume of the brine liquid and add half that amount of vinegar. Jim uses brown rice vinegar for its neutral flavor profile, but feel free to experiment here with a little addition of something more flavorful, like sherry or apple cider vinegar. You shouldn't really need to add salt at this point, but do so if it tastes a little one-dimensional. Bottle and refrigerate, adding to anything that needs a nice fruity shot of heat or salt. Enjoy!

Actually, Jim's fully-fermented pepper mash has a surprisingly low pH level even before he adds brown rice vinegar (some of his latest batches are below 3.5, which I think coincided with him switching to unrefined sea salt). Though I do not know the particular regulations Jim is having to follow with respect to pH, canned goods and pickles are generally considered shelf-stable at or below pH 4.6.
It is also worth noting that most vinegars have a pH between 2.4-3.4, which is quite mild when compared to the pH range of human stomach acid, which ranges from 1.5-3.5 on the pH scale. In other words, if vinegar doesn't kill it, your stomach will.
Honestly, if you are after live, probiotic-rich fermented foods, there are much more cost-effective ways to go than pepper sauce... cabbage is MUCH cheaper than chiles at the farmer's market, or anywhere else for that matter. I personally love sauerkraut and kimchee, neither of which needs vinegar to be delectable. This style of hot sauce definitely requires an acidic component to give it that characteristic Louisiana twang.
All of this aside, if you're determined to make a live, fermented pepper sauce, try modifying our newly-posted sriracha recipe (http://www.thejoykitchen.com/recipe/fresh-sriracha-chile-sauce). We actually tested a fermented version of it that was quite delicious (but not significantly better-tasting than the easier, fresh version). Just ferment the peppers in some water with the salt, sugar, and garlic and wait a week or three, using the guidelines given above. If you're still worried about the vinegar destroying all of the mash's probiotic goodness, add sparingly when the ferment is done (lactobacillus thrives in the 3.7-4.3 range, and since they get destroyed by heat, don't bother simmering everything together). Needless to say, this is not shelf-stable and you will need to refrigerate it afterward.
Happy experimenting!
John.

Thanks for this!
You mention "this is not shelf-stable and you will need to refrigerate it afterward". Why is this the case? Isn't a ferment inherently shelf-stable once the lactobacillus culture takes hold?

First, I whole-heartedly encourage anyone who has the time and interest to take a course on pickling. Second, keep in mind that this is not a canning recipe. There is no risk of botulism here. You're right to advise caution, but this sauce, and pickles in general, are most certainly not "far more dangerous than [commonly] imagined." In fact, based (anecdotally) on responses to this post and some other ones--our post on sauerkraut comes to mind--many of us suffer from over-active imaginations when it comes to the dangers posed by fermented vegetables and canned, acidified foods. Following trusted recipes for canning practically ensures their safety; very few people have ever gotten sick from fermented vegetables. If you have some specific facts, figures, examples, or particular concerns about this recipe, by all means share.

I just attended one of these seminars so that we could make bacon in our restaurant. Pickling and fermenting, especially sauerkraut, were heavily discussed to the dismay of myself and many of the chefs in attendance.
What Jim should have said is; before you can sell your fermented or pickled products, as a shelf stable product, to the general public you must first have a HAACP plan in place and approved by the Department of Agriculture in your state. Protocols called out in the plan must be strictly adhered to, documented, and kept on file. Any changes in the plan must be submitted for approval. Your product may also need to be tested by an independent laboratory.
If you are making this at home for your own consumption, it should be no problem. The pH levels will be below minimum 4.6 required for safety. I would eat this any day of the week without fear.
Thanks for sharing a great method. I look forward to playing with this and creating some great hot sauce.

Yes to all of this! We certainly didn't intend to give the impression that this --or any other fermented or canned product-- was somehow safe enough to sell to the public without implementing an approved HACCP plan.

Mine tastes pretty good I don't think I pressed the peppers in the jar far enough. It's very watery, after I mixed the rice vinager to it and mixed it it appears to still be fermenting.
I'm thinking I can keep it and do another batch very thick and mix the or just ninja some peppers and simmer them and add that until I have the desired blend ?

Funny! I just did two consecutive batches a few months ago. The first was a little watery, so for the second I crammed as many peppers as would fit in the jar, which allowed me to cut back on the amount of brine I needed to cover them. I highly recommend this for next time... for correcting the texture of your current batch, I would "ninja" some peppers in as you suggest... if you want to keep the heat level the same, you might want to add roasted red peppers (skin and seeds removed). As for the vinegar and fermentation, I doubt it will keep going, but you can always check by "burping" the container and listening for any telltale hisses.

Apparently they can survive for hours at 2.0 pH Jumbybird. Still, the acidic environment of the hot sauce will probably kill them all before you finish the bottle. Aside from endorphin-release, I declare fermented hot sauce health-neutral... and delicious!

My hubby and I were just talking last night about what to do with the bounty of peppers we have right now. This looks like a good project for this weekend...I was led here by Food In Jars blog. Yay! A Joy blog, makes me happy.

I have been wanting to make a hot sauce in this style. BUT with the amount of peppers I have and the amount of sauce I would end up with I would need to seal the jars by processing in a water bath canner. Our friends love to get our canned goods as gifts. Have you tried canning this recipe instead of refrigerating as a means of preservation. I am certainly not worried about preserving beneficial bacteria in this case.

I'm doing up a batch for gifts too right now!
I'm sure pressure canning would be fine Angela. Good and safe (process for 15 minutes). One thing: if you strain the brine really good and have things properly acidic --pH of 3.5-3.8-- this stuff is pretty resilient (though I would hesitate to call it shelf stable).
Personally, I plan to get some bottles, fill them, and send them off... you can always tell them to put the stuff in the fridge when it arrives in the mail (or when they get home).
Most important for gifting this stuff: the sauce tends to separate a little bit after a few weeks, a slight cosmetic flaw. To avoid this, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum (which many grocery stores now carry in the gluten-free section of the baking aisle) per quart of sauce. If you can't find it, Bob's Red Mill has it available for online purchase. Be sure to whisk it with a small amount of sauce before adding so that it disperses nicely. That should keep the sauce looking a nice uniform red indefinitely. If you don't want to bother, just ink "shake well" on the label.
Good luck! Let me know how it works out. Just out of curiosity, how much chile pepper are you putting up?
John.

I started this for the first time to experiment for what I hope is a bounty of peppers from my garden this year. I'm really pleased with it, but wondered if it would be acceptable to continually add more peppers to the mash as it is fermenting? With these home gardens, you can't always count on having the amount to need when you need it.

I totally understand why you're interested in adding the peppers over time... few can produce the pounds of peppers required for making this stuff before the older ones start going bad. The answer is yes, but within reason. Jim, our resident sauce guru, would continue adding peppers as they became ripe to the fifteen or so jars he had bubbling away at any given time. If I remember correctly, he would:
- let the initial load of peppers ferment for approx. one week
- press them to the bottom of the jar (they shrink as they ferment)
- add as many new peppers as will fit while still being submerged in the brine
- add "a pinch more salt"
... and let it go for another week or two, after which he might add yet another batch of peppers following the same procedure. Remember: after the last addition you need to let the most recently added peppers finish their fermenting (i.e. stop bubbling). If any white stuff starts forming, scrape it off and add a little more salt.
Unfortunately, this can't continue for the entire pepper season. Jim said he never let a fermentation go for longer than eight weeks.
This is all assuming the fermentation process is bubbling right along. Jim would often get back from picking peppers to find his fermentation jars overflowing from all of the activity. During peak season, he said the jars required stirring two or three times a day! Needless to say, he got to know those jars on an intensely personal level...
If you want, I can contact him for (hopefully) more exact numbers when it comes to adding salt, etc. I'm sure he'd love to share whatever he knows.

Thank you for your fast and informative response! Jim sounds like a fascinating man, and I appreciate you sharing all of this. I've got my pepper plants started, and I can't wait to try this with my own peppers. Thank you, again!

When my "cooking" mixture gets crazy, I divide it up amongst wide-mouth pint canning jars. They all sit in wide and deep dishpans, too, as I've had a couple of disasters that made a nasty mess. I have slowed the process by putting especially rambunctious batches in crisper drawers in the fridge. They do fine, just slow down a bit.

I'm wondering why you said that the peppers all have to be red, yellow, or orange? Is it because green peppers aren't ripe and don't have enough sugar to support fermentation, or because green peppers have something in them that inhibits fermentation? Or is it just a cosmetic suggestion so that the sauce doesn't end up brown colored?

I have to admit to never trying the ferment with green chiles... I called for ripe ones simply because I wasn't sure if green chiles would ferment in the same amount of time. You can mix and match red, orange, and yellow chiles in the same batch, but green ones should probably be done alone since they will probably take longer. I don't think sugar content would be much of an issue, though browning might be.
I just sent my chile guru a message on Facebook... I'm sure he's tried it and can provide us with some tips. I'll post anything useful as soon as I hear back. Thanks for the questions!

Okay... straight from Jim Smith of Rushy Springs Farm, a prolific fermenter of pepper sauces:
"The issue with green chiles is that they don't seem to break down as readily as ripe ones (obviously). This creates a problem separating the pulp from the seeds and skins and also results in larger and thus heavier particles which makes it harder to emulsify, thus a suspension problem. You can add more xanthan gum. From my experience this year I know that by stirring the fermentation twice a day the potential for mold growth is considerably reduced, resulting in much longer fermentation times. This would theoretically result in more efficient breakdown. Whether this would overcome the stronger fibers in green chile only trying it would know for sure. Separation with a food colander rather than a food mill would solve the separation issue but with less efficiency. A juicer with a centrifugal basket might work very well. I have tried juicers that expel the pulp as well as liquid- loose too much chile and don't efficiently extract all the liquid either. If the fibers aren't successfully broken down, this might be a drawback with centrifugal baskets as well."

Hey all, wild-edible-forager/food-preserver/farmers'-market-Vet/all-around-foodie from Canada here: just wanted to let you know your comments and suggestions have helped me from making a terrible mistake... just finished separating my ripe from green chillies and am converting my 1 gallon glass brewing jug into a fermenting one! Including experience and tips from another blog, I'll be using an airlock on it. I was touched to read about Jim's plight and campaign on Kickstarter and will check out if he ships to my area but will try to donate regardless. Best of luck to you and everyone else reading this in your local and heritage food ventures!

Glad you found us! Unfortunately, Jim didn't meet his Kickstarter goal--the campaign ended a couple years ago--but to our knowledge he is still making his pepper sauces. I wish you could see some of his pepper plants. He overwinters them--many of them are huge. More like shrubs. When we spent an afternoon at his farm picking chiles, it took us hours to pick all the tiny peppers off one plant. Pretty remarkable.

I've had very good success using a "masticating" juicer, the Omega J8004. It gets almost every bit of goodness out of my peppers. It also doesn't atomize the peppers so you can breathe while using it. Sometimes I run the pulp itself through a second time and it gets just about everything, better than any other process I've seen. It's super fast with easy cleanup. Peppers don't usually clog the machine so you can process a high volume of peppers. I would never put hot peppers through a centrifugal juicer without a gas mask handy.

Thanks so much for this information. I have wanted to try a fermented pepper sauce for some time but could never find clear, accurate information. I appreciate Jim sharing his wealth of knowledge. I just bottled my first batch of cayenne sauce and have some habaneros bubbling like mad! I live on the other side of the Smokies from Knoxville but will be making a trip across the mountains soon to get peppers and sauce from Jim. Again, thanks for all the excellent information!

Awesome! Glad this page helped you out... sounds like you got the hang of it. Jim's a great guy with some great product. At least during market season last year, you could find him every Saturday at Knoxville's Market Square Farmer's Market. He should have nice tomatoes, garlic, and herbs this time of year too. If you haven't had it, try some of his papalo... it's like cilantro but stronger and less "soapy."
Thanks again for the feedback!

If I wanted to add fruit or herbs, when would be the best time to add, during fermentation or after? As well would there be a way to reduce the possible oxidization that would occure if addiing such ingredients? Thanks!

Hi Drew, I'd say you have two options. One is to add the fruit at the beginning of fermentation. The advantages of this are that the fruit ferments along with the peppers, so the final product will be way more shelf-stable than if you add them at the end. The sauce will not be sweet, though, since the lactic bacteria will consume the sugars in the fruit over time.
Your other option is to add the fruit at the end. I would purée the fruit in this case. But bear in mind that this will reduce the shelf stability of the sauce, and you'll probably have to keep it in the fridge. Adding fruit will increase the pH of the sauce (over time, the sauce becomes safely acidic thanks to the lactic bacteria, which prevents the growth of unwanted/dangerous bacteria), so refrigeration will be necessary and even then you'll probably want to use the sauce fairly quickly. The fruit will also add a lot of water to the sauce, diluting it.
Wait, there may be a third option. You could start the fermentation with just the peppers, then add the fruit after several days of vigorous fermentation. Then, continue to ferment the sauce until active fermentation stops. That way, you'd be adding the fruit to an already acidic sauce, which would cut down on oxidation.
As for herbs, I would say that you could add those at the end without much ado. You might want to purée the herbs with some of the hot sauce to get them small enough so they won't clog up your hot sauce bottle (this will also help distribute the flavor). Make sure the herbs have been washed well so as not to introduce any unwanted bacteria into the sauce.
Hope this helps!

Just throw it all in the mix :)
I just finished a mango/ginger/habanero sauce that turned out awesome :) I had to really keep an eye on it though as the higher sugar content made for a really active (like volcanic) fermentation process.
P.S. I just found this blog and LOVE the subject. I've been fermenting my own sauces from my garden here in Baltimore for a few years now and really enjoy the entire process. From starting the plants from seed in February to tending them as they grow, through harvest and into the jars in the fall :)
I just wish I had as much success drying the peppers but they always seem to rot :(

Curious if you wouldn't mind sharing your ratios/recipes of mangos to habenaros? I have a ton of habenaros that I literally just pulled out the ground this week that I need to do something with. I am currently fermenting some other hot peppers that are milder than habenaros and they keep rishing to the top of my gallon jar, this is normal right? I am new at fermentation.

That sounds awesome. I have a quart of fresh ghost peppers from my garden that I need to make something with. Please share your fermentation process. Ginger / ghost pepper sauce sounds like a killer! Did you add salt or anything else to the mash?
My ghost peppers also rot before drying.
Thanks

Ah yes... the grayish-brown bottle of Tabasco is an unloved bottle of Tabasco. My father say he inherited a bottle from his mother Marion, that was super-oxidized--so seldom did she use it. I'm sure ascorbic acid would slow down oxidation in the sauce, as it handily does for cut, leafy herbs and vegetables. That being said, Tabasco is such an acidic product! If it oxidizes, I doubt a homemade, fermented sauce could ever last much longer. Quick answer: use more hot sauce. :-)

Food mill is really your best bet, but you could try draining the brine and squeezing as much liquid from the mash as you can by twisting it in a flour-sack towel and pressing it against a sturdy colander. The sauce might not be as flavorful, since the food mill not only extracts moisture from the mash, but actually separates the pepper's flesh from the skin and seeds. Let me know how things turn out!

Agreed on the food mill. Most useful implement in my kitchen.
Williams Sonoma has one that isn't too expensive and it works great (its the one I use) and it's not just for peppers. Home made tomato sauce/paste really cant be done without a mill and once you've tasted home made you will KNOW what all the fuss is about ;)

Hi Fred, sorry your hot sauce isn't working out so far. There are lots of reasons why this could be the case. Are you sure you added just 2% the weight of the chiles in sea salt? Over-salting can prevent fermentation from happening. Also, you're sure there's nothing except chiles, salt, and wine in there? I know you said you followed the recipe, but I'm just double checking. Also be sure you have the jars covered with breathable cloth and not an airtight lid, as the bacteria need oxygen to ferment.
Is the sauce growing any kind of film or mold?
How does the pepper mash smell? Sour at all? It could just be a lazy ferment that's going on.
If it's just not working at all, you can try adding a spoonful of plain yogurt with live cultures, some kefir, or even sourdough hooch. These all contain bacteria that can help get your pepper sauce fermenting. Or, you can even go pick a few wildflowers and add them to the mash--wildflowers have all kinds of wild yeasts growing on them, and I've used them before to get my ferments going. Same goes for berries--organic blueberries, blackberries, grapes, and raspberries are generally covered in wild yeast (that's what the white film on blueberries and grapes is). Just add a few berries to the mash and see what happens. I'm just throwing out ideas. I would say, though, that if your mash doesn't start fermenting in a week, toss it. Sometimes, through no fault of our own, ferments just don't take.

Thank you for the prompt reply!
I live in Hawai'i and it has taken a while to get hot peppers of any variety to take here (white fly love them, and it wasn't until I found that they love tomato plants more that I was able to get a couple going), so I was particularly fastidious following your instructions (peppers, salt 2% and a Gewürztraminer). Luckily my successful plants appear to be extremely productive.
I am using a glass mason jar with a silk covering held in place by the screw top lid. There is no film or mold of any kind. The scent of the contents is very clean - much like hot pepper water. No sour quality at all.
I like the idea of using ginger flowers from the garden if you think that may work to kick things off. If, given the information above, you think that there is a better course please let me know - thanks!

Yes, I would try adding a few wildflowers and see how that goes. My best guess is that the ferment is going very slow because you live in a dry climate (I'm assuming that you live in a dry area, although I could be wrong). Basically, what you want is to jump start your ferment with some yeasts and bacteria. The ideal bacteria is lactic acid bacteria--the same kind of bacteria found in yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, etc. Can you get unpasteurized sauerkraut where you are? Maybe try adding some of the brine and see what happens. A spoonful of yogurt with live cultures would also be a good thing to try. As long as the peppers aren't molding or going bad, I would just try a few different tactics to give the ferment a boost. Good luck and let me know how things turn out!

I have about 250 pepper plants of all heat levels. I have been cutting off the stems, chopping them in a blender and adding them to a plastice beer fermentation bucket for the last three weeks and now I am full. I added 1/2 cut kosher salt per gallon of chopped peppers. I seal it with an air tight cap and leave a bubbler on top so the CO2 can bubble out. I have mayn questions. Is there a problem with fermenting hot peppers this way? I plan to grind the seeds and stems out of the mixture after about 12 weeks (or when it stops bubbling). Then I will add vinegar ... not sure how much ... it was said above to add half of the brine solutions volume in vinegar at the end. I was going to let it bubble wih the vinegar an additional three weeks for flavoring. Then I wanted to put these in tabasco style woozie bottles for freinds and family. Do I need to refregerate this after bottling with just peppers, salt and vinegar? Does anyone see any potential problems I may run into?

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